The 2016 English Touring Opera production of Don Giovanni has been incredibly well received by audiences and critics a like. The fights were choreographed by Mark Ruddick from Squire Stage Combat and we are very proud of the work he did.
MACBETH AT GLYNDEBOURNE: KNIFE FIGHTS AND PLENTY OF GUNS
Glyndebourne has over the years become a second home for me. The company is a wonderful collective of talented people and it was with great pleasure that this year I have had the opportunity to work on two operas in one season. Ted Hoffman’s Macbeth has been a pleasure to work on and has resulted in some truly badass fights. As Fight Director I created sequences ranging from tactical room clearance using AK47’s to fist fights as well as some down and dirty knife fights which proved a highlight of the show.
The production closes next week and will then be moving to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden for a one off performance. Check out the sneak peak here of the final knife fight. Tickets can be bought here:
CARMEN AT GLYNDEBOURNE
For the third year running Mark Ruddick from Squire Stage Combat has been working with The Glyndebourne Opera. The fights in Carmen have been good fun to put together and as always, a challenge. Singing, acting and fighting all at once is not the easiest and I think the guys have done really well. Heres looking forward to the next show!
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING MUSIC VIDEO SHOOT
It was with great excitement that at the start of 2015 Squire Stage Combat’s Mark Ruddick was asked to Fight Direct on a music video for the band Everything Everything. The track, Distant Past, is the debut single of the bands new album and the video ended up looking great. Thanks to all invovled
CBBC MARRYING MUM AND DAD
Yesterday was a great shoot. Working with the fun people over at CBBC’s Marrying Mum and Dad myself and assistant April Hughes put together a quick sword fight before putting two sisters and presenter Ed Petrie through a introduction to stage combat. They each did very well and hopefully the final result will be a great addition to the show.
Here’s a sneak peak of myself and April working out the choreography for the fight. Its a little rough but it was really nice to be working with this kick ass actress again.
RAD AWARDS FIGTH SEQUENCE
Just before I left for New York I choreographed and performed this fight with April Huges and the very talented Jean-Paul Ly. They are both amazing fighters who I can’t wait to work with again. Jean-Paul is in fact going to be featuring in the new Street Fighter web series and has some of the best kicks I’ve ever seen.
The film was made by Casual Films on behalf of the RAD Awards which are an industry group awarding excellence in corporate video. Who says corporate can’t be creative.
BILLY BUDD IN NEW YORK
During the summer I had the great joy of working on Michael Grandage’s production of Benjamin Britton’s opera Billy Budd. It was a wonderful experience which I’m afraid I did not post about it. I have in fact become rather lazy on that front I have realised. However I imagine a large factor of this lapse is in fact that I have been busy teaching and working on a number of projects, the biggest being Billy Budd and the New York tour.
I am still rather jet lagged but had an amazing time providing the fights for this opera production. Falling from deck to deck, climbing the very impressive set and taking part in some jolly fun knife fights made this a dream job and I can’t thank all those involved enough. We had some great reviews in The New York Times and other papers which you can find here and I can not wait to go back to the wonderful city of New York.
THE UNDERWATER REALM
I have been part of the Realm Pictures crew for a long time and after two of the most intense years of my life January saw the release of The Underwater Realm. Our most ambitious project to date. The five short films set and shot entirely underwater tell the story of 5 times throughout history when mankind has come into contact with a race of people living under the sea and were made entirely by a volunteer crew lead by director David M Reynolds. As a producer on the project I was instrumental in funding the film, raising over $100,000 through an online crowd funding campaign back in December 2011 as well as taking on roles as the Production Coordinator, Set Builder and of course Stunt Coordinator. The project has been truly life changing and is slowly gaining a cult following online and after a glitzy premiere in Leicester Square is gaining interest from across the globe.
All five films are available for free online via youtube and you can watch them all in 4K RIGHT HERE!
LATCHWAYS SAFETY VIDEO
A few months ago Squire provided stunt services to the Latchways Fall Arrest group. The following video is the result. A fall from an 80′ crane using the new R20 Personal Rescue Device.
CHARD HOME EDUCATION CENTRE
It’s been two weeks since I did my first workshop with Chard Home Education Centre and I am still buzzing from the experience. The students were some of the brightest and most enthused people I have worked with to date. The day long workshop meant we could get a lot of really good work done spending the morning fighting hand to hand and then progressing to swords in the afternoon.
Check out some of the great photos taken by Patrick; a student at the centre with a great passion of photography. I am sure Squire will be working hard to work with more home education groups in the future and I hope to be back in Chard very soon. You can learn more about the great work Chard Home Education Centre on their homepage and see some images from the workshop below.